When using a breast pump, the mother must manually hold the breast flange or shield over the exposed portion of the breast. Due to the length of time required to express milk when using a pump, a woman will often express milk from both breasts simultaneously. To express milk from both breasts, the woman must hold the breast flange or shield with each hand against her breast, leaving her in an awkward position, making it difficult to do something as simple as operating the breast pump. As a result, the nursing mother will not have the full use of both hands to perform other tasks. It would be advantageous to develop a device that would enable a mother to use a breast pump while allowing her the free use of her hands to perform other tasks.
Hands-free pumping affords a mother the ability to simultaneously massage her breasts to enhance milk let down, a procedure that is not possible with most breast pumps currently in use, or to simply engage in other pursuits when the milk is being pumped. To mitigate the disadvantage of holding the storage container while pumping, several inventions have been patented.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,186, to Penny, describes an apparatus for securing suction devices to a nursing mother's breast. This apparatus includes a single, elongated chest piece 12 which may be manufactured as a single strip of fabric having an essentially constant width along the entire chest piece. The chest piece 12 may be manufactured of a stretchable, non-woven material or a non-stretchable woven material. FIG. 1 illustrates the apparatus configured as a halter top provided with a seam 18 in the rear of the apparatus. FIG. 2 illustrates the apparatus as a bandeau or tube top having a first end 113a and a second end 113b of a chest piece 112 which may overlap to temporarily secure the chest piece 112 around the mother's chest. In both of the embodiments, the front portion of the chest piece is provided with two openings allowing a breast pump to be attached to one of the woman's breasts which would fit within a portion 12c of the chest piece. The elongated chest piece is arranged to fit snugly around the women's chest and breast without providing support for the nursing woman's breast.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,361, to Cravaack et al, discloses a milk extraction device comprising an elastic band having slits aligned with the nipples of the breasts. The band is worn under and is snap attached to a nursing bra, as shown in FIGS. 9-12. The bra is unsnapped to provide a pumping position, as described in column 5, lines 14-16.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,558 to Luciano et al, discloses a pumping band having slits aligned with the nipples of the breasts.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2008/0039781 to Bjorge, illustrates a hands-free breast pump support device 10 that connects to a nursing bra, which can be made from lycra. The device must be worn beneath and attached via connections 110A, 110B, to the nursing bra, as described in paragraph [0018].
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2008/0262420 to Dao et al, discusses a hands-free pumping device that fits into a nursing bra 32.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0191433 to Prentiss, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,100, also to Prentiss, discloses a hands-free pumping device that is placed beneath a support bra.
U.S. Pat. No. 6, 705,920 to Engel, discloses a breast pump holding a strap that includes elastic bands 18, 20 and slits 34, 36, for placement of the narrow portion 38 of the breast pump cone 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,936, issued to Mendoza, describes a hand free pumping and nursing bra having a detachable nursing cup and pumping panel.
However, none of these prior art references address the combination of features disclosed in the present invention.